Demons Never Truly Die
by Ladidumm
Summary: Kenshin had many ghosts from his past, but one decided to follow him. After all, demons never really die... And the same goes for their children.
1. A Smiling, Bloodstained Ghost

**I own nothing. Both stories belong to their respective authours.**

**This is, clearly, an AU. Please remember this while you read it. As well, please do recall that in both anime, ghosts do play an active role. One in particular will just be playing a larger than active part here.**

**As well, like with my other AU, you will need to know the original storyline. In this case, Rurouni Kenshin and Peacemaker Kurogane. As well, I have not seen the Kenshin anime, so I apologize for not including those.**

* * *

Kenshin stared at the broken swordsman. Raijuta was over. It was done. But Yuutaro would never be the same. Never again. The damage was done. Kenshin turned to walk away, then heard a soft sound and spun around, eyes widening.

"Sanosuke? Yahiko?" he said softly, "I'll be there in a bit. Go on a bit without me."

They both paused, then nodded, and left to assure Kaoru that they were alright. Kenshin turned and faced the direction where the sound had come from. Just behind the defeated swordsman a figure began to emerge. Pale skin stained so with blood it was hard to see the original colour. A kimono that was once white covered in the same blood that coated the rest of the figure. A sheathed katana clutched loosely in one hand. Long, purple hair, with matching, kind, violet eyes. Blood covered the lips, which were twisted upwards into a very small smile, and dripped down on the chin. A face and figure attractive in a more womanly than manly way. No footprints were left in the dirt.

Only the blood coming from his mouth was his.

"First Captain Okita Soji," Kenshin said at last. "Why this form? Why now? Why show me what you looked like at the time?" a silent question reined over him, but would remain unspoken, knowing the only answer would be slight smile, _will you finally say something this time? _Another worry nudged the back of his head.

This particular ghost had shown himself a few times previously, always when important things happened, but never drenched in blood. Kenshin hadn't seen him for the past three years. He had always previously looked the same, innocent smile, untainted white clothing, unarmed. So why had he shown himself looking this way? And when in his life had he looked this way?

The ghost ignored him completely. It suddenly turned and walked over to the defeated swordsman. Gleaning over and grasping his chin with bloodstained fingers, it tilted Raijuta's face up so that his eyes were staring into it's own.

Kenshin's eyes widened in panic. This was the first time it had done more than just stare at him. This was also the first time it had shown it could touch things. Maybe Raijuta's emotional damage was allowing him to see and touch a dead man? His eyes were glassy, unseeing, and Kenshin was pretty sure he wasn't really there.

The smile changed. It widened and stopped looking quite so innocent. The pupils in his eyes contracted. Insanity touched the face and bloodlust became clear. Those feminine features looked decidedly less feminine and more demonic.

In a split second, Raijuta's eyes focused and he jerked back with a strangled cry. The deceptively slender fingers held him tight. He gasped, trying to get away. Kenshin understood completely. Even he felt unease just looking at the face, much less getting a close range glare.

The lips, still stained with his own blood, began to move, speaking words that Kenshin could not hear, either because the ghost was not here enough for him to hear or because it was whispering. Either way, Raijuta's struggles grew more pronounced, but in his half-mad state, he could do nothing.

Kenshin broke out of the morbid fascination that had been holding him tight and ran forward, stopping mere inches from the ghost and the broken man.

The ghost turned to face him, still clutching Raijuta, and his smile changed. It was suddenly the innocent smile of before, and the cheer. It all looked just as frightening as the demon's face surrounded by the blood.

"I'll be seeing you soon again, Battousai!" For the first time, the ghost spoke to him, and in that instant, released Raijuta and disappeared.

"Wh-who was that?" Raijuta somehow managed to choke out the words. Kenshin glanced at him, surprised. He hadn't thought he was still capable of speech. Apparently the shock of the ghost appearing had given him one more question. Kenshin had to think for a good answer to that. He turned to leave, and for a second it seemed he wasn't going to say anything. Raijuta didn't deserve to know. At the last second, however, he decided to let him have an idea what he had seen.

"A demon wolf in human form."

He let the words resound between them, before turning and asking a question. It couldn't be helped, he was curious.

"What did he say to you?"

Life fled from the man's eyes once more, and it was Kenshin's turn to wonder whether he would actually answer.

"That he was what I was trying to create, the killing sword. To take a good long look at what I had wanted to be." With those words, he broke completely, and Kenshin could instinctively tell he would get no more from this man. Even dead, that person had the power to kill the mind completely.

* * *

It was only while they watched Yuutaro drive away that Sanosuke asked.

"Why'd you stay back there?" Kenshin paused, not really wanting to talk about it.

"A ghost of the past."

This was clearly not the answer they had desired, and he was peppered with questions, but he did not elaborate.

Later, he would wonder if elaborating could have stopped some of the events that occurred.

* * *

His dream of the Shinsengumi ended just as he crossed swords with Saito. Just as he awoke with a start, he thought he saw a glimpse of purple hair fleeing outside the doorway. He stared at it, curiosity evident, but a sense of doom overpowering it.

As he walked back, he tried to explain to Kaoru and Yahiko the Shinsengumi. It was difficult. They couldn't seem to grasp the concept of attacking in numbers in a way that wasn't cowardly. He didn't try any harder though. You needed to be there to understand. It was complicated.

Kaoru noticed as his gaze suddenly sharpened, riveted on one point. She looked across the river, and thought she saw someone. The sakura trees obscured them, but she caught a glimpse of a white kimono and long purple hair.

She blinked, wondering why Kenshin seemed so interested in this person. A smile snuck across the face, and the mouth formed words. She frowned, trying to work it out, and turned to Kenshin.

Kenshin was pale, repeating no over and over again.

"Kenshin?" she asked, "What's wrong? Who's that person?"

"Wolves always come in packs," he whispered, hardly more than a breath. "Saito… it has to be. No. No no no no. He's not here." Then somehow he managed to get even paler as the figure mouthed one more word, that delighted smile still on his face. "Sano." And Kenshin was off and running.

Kaoru turned to go after him, but took one more glance at the happily smiling figure. She saw that smile again, and then it was gone. She blinked. Just… gone.

"Oi, Kaoru!" she turned towards Yahiko, "Are you coming or not?"

She nodded mutely even as she chased after him.

* * *

No. Kenshin refused to believe it. But why would Okita lie? Then again, why would the ghost tell the truth? It was a ghost, afterall. Probably a hallucination. But Kaoru had seen it too. And it had spoken to Raijuta. Then again, Raijuta had been insane.

These thoughts raced through Kenshin's mind as his feet matched the pace of his thoughts. He passed Megumi; she had clearly been waiting for something, most likely him. He slowed for a second. _Well, _he thought, _can't hurt if Sanosuke really is wounded_.

"Megumi-dono!" he cried as he ran, "Please follow this one!" he ran furiously, hurrying back to the dojo.

Suddenly, his swordsman ki spiked, and he turned to see the spectre running beside him. The First Captain of the Shinsengumi was wearing a simple white kimono. His long purple hair flowed behind him. He was laughing happily as he jogged beside his one-time enemy. There was no blood this time. He was not speaking either. It was like the other times he had seen the ghost throughout the years. The face of the dead man turned towards him and a smile broke out. It was a smile full of joy, violet eyes round with innocence. He was barely a child. Kenshin was painfully reminded of the fact that he had fought him when he was barely 20*. He had tuberculosis at the time**, and had died when he was barely 25***. Kenshin had often wondered what it would be like to fight him at his full strength. The next night had involved violent nightmares involving a happily smiling demon's child slicing through him repeatedly. He would wake in a cold sweat and decide never to pursue that line of thought again.

He rounded the bend and pelted towards the dojo. Upon arriving, his eyes widened. There was a large hole and when he dashed through, he found Sanosuke lying there. He heard a loud chuckle, and turned to see his long-dead enemy nearly having a fit. He glared, and started as he was treated to a blood-drenched ghost, staring sightlessly at the head of Kondo. Then the illusion was gone and the ghost was glaring at him, reproachfully. Apparently doing stuff like that, which Kenshin hadn't even known was possible took a lot of… whatever ghosts used, because he faded soon after. But the meaning was clear; now you know what it's like for someone to be hurt senselessly.

As if that wasn't enough, he heard the voice inside his head, barely more than a whisper, _The government you killed for, ruined our lives for, is the cause of this boy's suffering, and yet you feign concern… _apparently the spectre really wanted to get the point across, because that couldn't have been easy.

* * *

The ghost didn't show up again for the next three days. Honestly, Kenshin wondered why he cared, it had been three years before Raijuta, so what was three days? And he had done things Kenshin hadn't known he could. He had always thought of the ghost as a figure generated from his mind out of guilt, but he couldn't believe that anymore, not fully, anyway.

He supposed the whatever required for communication had tired him out. But now Kenshin had questions. Clearly it was Hajime Saito. Clearly. But that was impossible. Or maybe he just didn't want to believe it, because he was pretty sure he couldn't beat Saito as he was.

* * *

Kenshin hurried home after his fight with Akamatsu. It had been more difficult than it could have been, but he was mainly worried because the ghost had decided to make his presence known again. Apparently he had chosen to do this by laughing uproariously on the boulder beside him. And Akamatsu hadn't seen him. So it was pretty much the same as it had always been. But the ghost was still chuckling as they walked up to the dojo. It just laughed harder the closer they got.

Honestly, it was distracting.

"Kenshin!" Kaoru greeted him. But as they talked and walked the ghost was in hysterics. Suddenly, just as Kaoru slid open the door, he disappeared. For some reason, this made him even more nervous than when he had been there.

Kaoru opened the door and Hajime Saito turned to face him. In the back of his mind, Kenshin heard Okita laughing.

**

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Thanks for reading this chapter! Please review, it will make me wish to continue!**

***In Peacemaker Kurogane, Okita is around 19. Kenshin fought him about a year later.**

****In Peacemaker Kurogane, Okita first coughs up blood at the Ikeda-ya affair. And he fought Kenshin for the first time after this. According to the Kenshin OVAs and anime, when Okita first fought him Okita coughed up blood. So no, they never did fight without him having tuberculosis.**

*****This is a fact.**


	2. Ghosts of the Past

**I own nothing. Both stories belong to their respective authors. **

**Please remember while reading this story that it is Okita-centric, just not from his POV. As well, this is an AU, so events will be different in this.**

**Finally, this chapter and the remainder of this story is dedicated to April-san, who gave me the inspiration for this story and the idea behind a later plot arc. I will say which when it comes up.**

**There will be swearing in this chapter.**

* * *

Kenshin tensed instantly.

"It seems from your condition that Akamatsu gave you some trouble," Saito said as he turned to face him, "You have indeed become weak." He didn't notice as the ghost tiptoed over and leaned down in front of his face. Kenshin began the very difficult task of trying to keep his full concentration on two things at once. It was very much like watching two of the starving wolves they were named for**, anticipating their first move. So he was shocked when Okita moved first. He smiled. It was the genuine care and kindness and care in that look that shocked him. He looked happy that Saito was doing well.

It was the only genuine smile Kenshin had ever seen on his face. The smiles before had always been fake or bloodthirsty. Then the ghost faded away. He had always flickered out of existence, or just disappeared altogether, but this time he just faded away. It seemed almost gentle.

He froze, but when Saito moved he responded.

"You aren't the Hajime Saito I knew as a warrior," Kenshin finished, but despite his apparent desire to resolve this with words his eyes were hard and amber. He wanted a fight, and he knew it, and Saito knew it. He thought he caught a glimpse of purple hair and hard, judgemental, purple eyes, but he could not be sure. He wondered with part of his brain what he had done to warrant that look, but remained focused on the battle. He watched with trepidation as Saito simply began to laugh.

Even as Saito criticized Akamatsu, Kenshin shifted, seeing Okita walk up to stand right behind Saito, looking over his shoulder, which he still barely reached, at Kenshin.

"We who fought the Hitokiri Battosai more than anyone else, also knew his strength most deeply," Saito intoned. Behind him, Okita raised a hand to his mouth. "But now Akamatsu gave you trouble." Okita dissolved into full-blown laughter.

Suddenly Kenshin was looking right into the face of Okita as the ghost appeared right in front of him, smiling maniacally and mouthing a word over and over again. Blood started to appear on his spotless white kimono and long hair, blanketing his face.

"As a rurouni that does not kill, you have become weak," as Saito finished saying those words, Okita became more and more drenched in blood, and Kenshin finally worked out what he was saying. _Weak_. As soon as the ghost understood that Kenshin understood, he changed what he was saying. This time, Kenshin understood what he was saying. _Hypocritical. You can't protect anyone this way. But then again, you never could protect, could you? _Kenshin began to tremble slightly, only in his hand, _After all, to protect is to kill, no? _And in front of Kenshin he saw Okita wearing simple hakama and over his white kimono, hair pulled back, blade pulled out and stained with blood. Then he disappeared, and as though a fog were lifted, he realized the world had gone on around him. All three were looking to him for an answer. He took a deep breath.

"Saito, it doesn't matter to me what you think," he said calmly, "All I need is the strength of a rurouni to protect those who are important to me. I no longer need the strength of a hitokiri." _Liar. _He heard it in his head, said just as calmly as the words Kenshin had said. He wondered where the ghost was getting so much power. He suspected it was from Saito. The presence of the Wolf of Mibu who had once been said to have supernatural powers, which had allegedly weakened with time, must be giving the ghost strength. Not that he believed the supernatural powers or anything.

"Is that so?" and Saito smirked. The conversation progressed, but the ghost did not choose to make its presence known again.

"Hmm," Saito said in response to Kenshin some time later, "I see." Behind him, the ghost appeared, expressionless eyes set in a for-once not-smiling face staring right at him. It mouthed the words, _Aku, Soku, Zan. _Then it disappeared. "Let's go." And with that, Saito charged.

Kenshin dodged and the attack hit right beneath him as he jumped. Saito's strength was as unmatched as ever. It was easy to believe that this was the man whose strength was equal even to the demon child of the Shinsengumi. But then again, said demon child never would grow old enough, or ever get stronger.

"You mean to avoid me," Saito yelled as he ploughed upwards with his sword, "Battosai?"

* * *

The battle moved forward, a furious exchange of blows. Saito clearly had the advantage, and he pressed it ruthlessly. But as Kenshin became less and less Kenshin, he started to push Saito back. And finally, Saito faced the Hitokiri Battosai. He shifted into the true Gatotsu, and stared the Battosai in the eye.

Finally, after the attack, Battosai declared his desire to end Saito's life. And Kaoru could only stare in horror as the man she knew disappeared. She screamed and cried, but nothing could be done. Sanosuke, who had finally woken up, declared the truth. He'd always been good at that.

Even as Kenshin stopped the blade with his bare hand, Kaoru saw something through her tears. It was the same young man as earlier, only, he looked different this time around. Well, she supposed it was because she could get a clear look at him this time. His hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, and he wore a headband. The oddest thing was the light blue haori with white triangles on the sleeves. There was a sword at his waist, and he wore hakama this time.

Saito's jacket was choking Kenshin. He couldn't breathe. Even as he moved to hurt Saito, to make him let go, a voice rang out.

"Stop," it was said calmly, almost quietly, but it got both of their attentions. Saito's jacket fell, limply, to the ground, and Kenshin went with it. Saito began to tremble lightly.

"Who are you?" Kaoru asked, wide eyes staring at the figure in front of her. Now that she looked closer, she could see his features. Wide, violet eyes with a certain innocent, childlike quality to them. He was quite good-looking, but in a feminine way. A slight smile adorned his face. Hair that seemed to be a very dark purple, or a black that simply shone purple. She couldn't tell, as it seemed to change in the light. Pale skin that stood out all the more from his colourful features. The whole picture was made disconcerting, however, from the blood that coated his chin.

He, however, paid him no mind. He was staring at the two combatants. Saito looked as if he had seen a ghost. Kenshin looked horrified. The figure's smile widened.

"Saitoooo," the boy said, teasingly, "You should be calmer. It's bad for your health." It nodded once, sagely, at the terrifying man. The Kenshin-gumi stared at him in disbelief.

"Did he just treat Saito like a child?" Yahiko whispered, shocked. Kaoru could only nod in disbelief.

"My apologies," Saito said, and now he was smiling, but not the predatory grin they had seen before. "you never visited me."

"And he's going along with it?" Yahiko asked, even more disbelief colouring his voice. They could only nod, mutely, again.

"Of course not, silly!" the boy chided again, "I've been haunting the Battosai. He's been doing some pretty silly stuff. But, maybe he can find atonement. After all, he was only an assassin. But, I think it's stupid. You can't protect without killing. And you can't protect with a sword at all." This shook Kaoru out of her reverie.

"That's not true! You can't understand Kenshin!" Kaoru shrieked. She was completely unprepared for the bloodlust-filled look Saito threw her way. The figure ignored her.

"Listen, Saito, I made a mistake. You'll find it out later. But stick around Battosai, and I'll see you around," and with a smile, the figure disappeared.

There was silence for a few seconds as everyone pondered the implications of this. Then finally it sunk in what that was.

"Oh shit!" Sanosuke exclaimed, jumping off Megumi and collapsing to the floor. "Ghost! Ghost!" Megumi, for once, had nothing to stay in response to this. Even she could find no criticism for Sano in being afraid of a ghost. It was a perfectly natural response. Which would explain why she joined him there a moment afterwards. She did it far more gracefully, of course. Far, far, more gracefully.

Kaoru stared, and stared, before turning and dashing to Kenshin. He was pale, but his eyes were still amber. He kept on muttering about him showing himself, over and over and over again. Who was he? She had no idea.

Surprisingly, out of everyone there, Yahiko had the most reasonable reaction. He, for reasons unknown even to him, had absolutely no problem with ghosts. He figured, why not? His life had already gone insane the moment he met Kenshin. So, ghosts, right? Whatever. Were they trying to kill him? Not yet. So where was the problem? And if they did try and kill him, they could deal with that when it came to it.

For now, see to the guy who had tried to kill Kenshin.

Said guy was staring, pale-faced, at where the ghost had stood. His hands were shaking. His eyes, amber eyes, Yahiko noticed with a start, were fixated on the spot where the ghost had stood. And they were glossy, as if filled with unshed tears. Yahiko blinked, sure that had been wrong, and they were gone. The eyes were unreadable, but they were fixed on the spot still.

"Saito," Kenshin spoke before Yahiko could move, "Kaoru-dono, Yahiko, Sanosuke, Megumi-dono, let none of us speak of this. Please?"

"Yes," Saito nodded slowly, again before Yahiko could do anything, "That's what he would have wanted." Kenshin nodded in response, and neither said anything. A silence reined, and Yahiko felt uncomfortable, as if he were intruding upon the life of another. It was clear that both Kenshin and Saito had known this man, and both had felt a measure of respect for him.

Yahiko couldn't help but wonder who he was. These thoughts, and others like them, were interrupted as they heard a man ask, in some confusion, "Just what happened here?"

**

* * *

Omake: Okita's Memories**

_Okita Souji, first captain of the Shinsengumi, the Demon's child, smiled as he watched the tree. It was summer, and green leaves lightly graced the beautiful tree. Okita loved that tree. He heard the sounds of practice coming from the dojo behind him, and stopped smiling. For an instant, the fragile mask slipped, an expression of sorrow coming over the young face. He wrapped his hand in the kimono over his chest, squeezing._

_Okita tried to stand up, then collapsed back down almost instantly. The hand not clutching his chest flew up to his mouth and covered it, even as he began coughing. Violently he coughed, try as he might to muffle it, and he hunched his shoulders up. No one could know it was anything more than a cold. No one could know. Not until he could kill Battousai. All thoughts vanished from his head as the cough became worse, tearing apart his chest._

_It was a few minutes before the violent fit passed. It hurt. He knew it would get worse if he tried to go and practice. He knew even before he pulled his hand away from his mouth what he would find. He did not need to feel the warm, thick, wetness to know it was there. He didn't want to see it. _

_Okita would not have been able to tell you how long he sat there, battling with himself to pull his hand away from his mouth and face the fact that his body was eating it from the inside out. He didn't want to see it; was it not enough he had to feel it? He did not have much time left. With an act of will, he tore his hand from his mouth, and stared at the blood that covered it. Discreetly, he pulled a cloth from his sleeve and wiped his mouth and his hand._

_He frowned. It was difficult to do this one-handed. Then he realized one hand was still entangled in the kimono. He slowly unfurled it, or tried to anyway, but his hand was still entangled, and did not wish to come away so swiftly. With another sharp force of will, he untangled it. _

_Okita stared at it for a few seconds, watching as it shivered, face unreadable. A small, sad, smile stole across his face. To think he was reduced to this… he couldn't even control his own hand, couldn't even stand up, much less fight. This was the fearsome Demon's Child? This was the Shinsengumi's strongest swordsman? This was pathetic. _

_Slowly he clenched his hand into a fist, ignoring it as it jerked around, curling the fingers tighter and tighter. His teeth grit with the effort, and his nails began to bite into his palm. Small rivulets of blood began to run down his wrist, even as it moved back and forth in erratic patterns he had no control over._

_Finally he relaxed it, allowing it to fall to his lap, trembling only slightly now, keeping care to not allow the blood to touch the white kimono. He leaned back, exhausted from fighting himself. His face transformed itself to what he was truly feeling for one of the few times; and it was pure grief._

_The moment passed, and a small, bitter smile took its place. He always used his smiles to convey his emotions. Happy smiles, sad smiles, uneasy smiles, mischievous smiles… he had thousands of smiles. _

"_How many times since I first killed, Hijikata-san?" he whispered. "How many times have I not smiled? Even as I killed, I always smiled. I don't know, Hijikata-san, how much longer I can smile…" _

_He leaned forward, clutching his bleeding hand in his other, and pressing the appendage to his chest. He drew his knees up to his head, and rested his forehead on them. He curled tighter, into a ball. One drop, two drops, three drops of tears fell from his eyes, wetting his kimono. No one could see, not in the position he was in. So no one would be able to see his face either. _

_The stiff posture relaxed slightly, and the face shifted into a slight, bitter smile. The voice was a muffled, hoarse, whisper._

"_I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Hijikata-san, Kondou-san, Saito-san, everyone. I can't be your weapon anymore. I'm sorry. My body won't listen to me. I'm so sorry. I'm caged in my own body."_

**

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So, this is chapter 2. Plus an omake. I am well aware of the delay, but getting no reviews is… depressing. To say the least. The more reviews the faster the chapters! Same goes for my other story, which only has one chapter left.**

**So, please review.**

**Thanks for reading this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it!**


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